1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to combination building structures and more particularly to such structures in combination with indirect solar heat means.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The idea of having a greenhouse as part of one's home or other structure is, of course, old. U.S. Pat. No. 1,526,766 to Arnold and U.S. Pat. No. 3,894,369 to Schmitt et al are examples of combination greenhouses and homes. People enjoy the aesthetic benefits of having greenery within their homes and the pleasing benefits of lightness that greenhouses bring. It is also generally recognized that during periods of full and intense sun, a great deal of heat is generated within the air within the greenhouse. Also generally recognized is that in periods of cold weather, auxiliary heating for the greenhouse to provide life-sustaining support for the plants is likewise necessary. Furthermore, a reference such as Schmitt et al recognizes direct benefits which may be obtained from allowing the direct heating of a structure by the passage of the sun's rays directly through the glass walls into the structure. While direct solar heat is certainly simple in design, it has certain inherent deficiencies. There is no heat storage, for example, and this lack of heat storage means that in the summer a home becomes too hot unless it is shaded while in the winter excess heat, from the living structure itself, is dissipated through the glass walls into the greenhouse and lost. Secondly, any kind of truly useful greenhouse and building structure combinations have been, because of the nature of direct solar energy, limited to one story structures. Two story structures have had to be confined to such structures as the greenhouse on top of the house as is shown in Arnold.
Furthermore, solar heating systems have heretofore generally required the use of solar panels as a source of heat gathering. See for example U.S. Pat. No. 2,559,870 to Gay and U.S. Pat. No. 2,780,415 also to Gay. Solar panels have proven to be so expensive as a capital outlay as to negate their usefulness.
Each of these foregoing references reflect both a primitive solution and also a solution directed to but a single segment of what is an overall heat transfer problem.
In these days of the energy crunch there is a great need to conserve fossil fuel in the national interest, as well as an economic need for saving money in heating for the individual home or office. These needs are best satisfied where the use of fossil fuel for heating is curtailed as today with unexpected suddenness, energy is both costly and supply, especially of oil and gas, is uncertain.
There is therefore a need to have a truly efficient means of heating a home or office such as is possible with solar heat. Unfortunately, solar heat heretofore has most often resulted in ugly design dependent on expensive and ugly solar panels.
The elimination of the need for solar panels would both lessen cost and create a more pleasing structure design.
Furthermore, greenhouses which are both pleasing to the eye and provide a potential source for growing food have heretofore been an economic burden on their owners by virtue of the need to provide for their cooling during the heat of the day (even in winter) and their heating at night during cold weather.
No solution has been heretofore known which would solve the dual problem of solar heat inherent in the use of solar panels or provide a truly efficient way to realize the benefits of a greenhouse while providing for its economical maintenance.